Chapter 12: The Abyss Beckons: "The past does not forgive, and the dead do not forget."

**A Descent into Darkness**

Praew's breath caught in her throat as the world twisted around her. The auditorium vanished, replaced by a vast emptiness, a swirling abyss of shadows and whispers. She wasn't falling, but she wasn't standing either—she simply *was*, suspended in the void.

The others were gone. No Tan. No Meen. No Pim.

Only her.

And Kanokwan.

The specter of their former classmate loomed before her, a grotesque reflection of the girl she had once been. Her lips curled into an unnatural smile, her hollow eyes filled with something ancient and vengeful.

"Do you know what you've done, Praew?" Kanokwan whispered. Her voice slithered through the darkness like smoke. "You should have let me finish what I started."

Praew clenched her fists. "You were trying to summon something beyond your control."

Kanokwan tilted her head, amused. "Beyond *my* control, maybe. But what about *yours*?"

The shadows trembled. The voices grew louder, whispering in a language Praew didn't understand. And then—

Hands.

Dozens of cold, skeletal hands reached from the abyss, clawing at her arms, her legs, her face.

She screamed.

The shadows dragged her deeper.

---

**The Others Fight Back**

Back in the real world, the auditorium was in chaos.

Tan scrambled to his feet, his ears still ringing from the explosion of lights. The candles had been snuffed out, plunging the room into near-total darkness. Only the faint, eerie glow of the broken sigil remained, casting jagged patterns on the floor.

"Where's Praew?" Meen's voice was sharp with panic.

Pim pointed at the center of the circle. Praew's body was still there, standing eerily still, her eyes locked open but unseeing. Her lips moved soundlessly, as if she were speaking to something they couldn't see.

"She's trapped," Pim whispered. "She's *inside* the curse."

Tan's heart pounded. He knew what this meant.

If they didn't pull her back soon, she might never return.

Meen knelt beside the book, flipping through the pages frantically. "There has to be something. A reversal, a way to sever the connection—"

"Or," Tan cut in, his voice grim, "someone has to go in and bring her back."

Silence.

Then Pim, despite the fear in her eyes, stepped forward. "Then let's do it."

---

**Trapped in the Past**

Praew landed with a hard *thud* on a cold, stone floor. Gasping, she pushed herself up, her hands shaking. She was no longer in the abyss.

She was in a classroom.

But not the one she knew.

The desks were old-fashioned, the wooden chairs carved with names that she didn't recognize. The chalkboard was cracked, the words scrawled on it barely legible. The air smelled of mildew and something else—something rotting.

Then she saw the students.

Lined up in perfect rows, silent, unmoving.

Their heads hung low, their faces obscured by their long, dark hair.

A chill crawled up Praew's spine.

This wasn't real.

It was a memory.

A memory *of the past*.

And then—

The door creaked open.

Kanokwan walked in, younger, alive. Behind her, another girl followed.

Kanya.

Praew's breath hitched.

This was it. *This was the night it all began.*

---

**The Ritual's Origin**

Kanokwan strode to the front of the room, her expression unreadable. The ghostly figures of students didn't react—they simply sat, waiting. Kanya stood beside her, eyes wary, fingers trembling.

"I don't want to do this," Kanya whispered.

Kanokwan placed a hand on her shoulder, gentle yet firm. "You must."

"No, I—"

Before Kanya could protest further, Kanokwan raised her hand. The ghostly students lifted their heads in unison, their hollow eyes locking onto Kanya.

Praew realized with horror that they weren't *students*.

They were spirits.

Bound to this room, to this school, to this curse.

"This is the price of justice," Kanokwan murmured. "Once we finish, you will be protected. Forever."

Kanya's body trembled, but she nodded. She stepped forward and held out her hands.

Kanokwan placed the doll into them.

The same doll that had haunted Praew for weeks.

The same doll that carried the curse.

A sharp gust of wind howled through the room as the spirits chanted in a low, rhythmic hum. The chalkboard rattled, the desks groaned under an unseen force.

Then—

The door burst open.

A teacher stormed in, face twisted in fury.

"What are you doing?!"

Kanokwan's eyes widened. The spirits hissed. Kanya screamed.

And everything collapsed.

---

**Back to the Present**

Praew was yanked out of the vision by a force so strong it knocked the air from her lungs.

She gasped, finding herself back in the auditorium, sprawled on the cold floor.

The chanting had stopped. The candles were relit.

And her friends were there, surrounding her.

"Praew!" Pim knelt beside her, shaking her lightly. "Are you okay?"

Praew blinked, trying to ground herself. "I... I saw everything."

Meen frowned. "Saw what?"

Praew pushed herself up, heart racing. "The night it all happened. The night the curse started." She turned to Tan. "Kanokwan didn't do this for power. She did it to *protect* Kanya."

Tan's brows furrowed. "Then why did it turn into a nightmare?"

Praew's voice was unsteady. "Because a teacher stopped the ritual before it was completed." She swallowed. "And the spirits—*they punished her for it*."

Silence.

Then Pim, her voice barely above a whisper, asked, "Who was the teacher?"

Praew's stomach twisted. The face had been blurred in her vision, but she remembered the feeling. The anger. The terror.

And one name rose in her mind.

The principal, Sombat Anantrakul.

The very same principal who still ran the school.

---

**The Final Warning**

The group sat in stunned silence, the weight of the revelation pressing down on them.

"If the ritual was meant to protect Kanya," Meen said slowly, "then why is her spirit still suffering?"

Praew exhaled shakily. "Because it was *never finished*."

The words hung in the air.

They had assumed Kanokwan was the cause of the horrors plaguing their school. But what if she had only been a victim? What if her spirit had been manipulated by something even darker?

Pim shivered. "So what do we do now?"

Praew clenched her fists. "We find the truth."

Tan met her gaze. "And if the principal is hiding something?"

Praew's eyes darkened.

"Then we make them talk."

The shadows around them flickered, as if something unseen was listening.

The game had changed.

They weren't just dealing with a curse anymore.

They were facing a secret buried in the school's history.

And someone—living or dead—was determined to keep it hidden.

---

"The past is restless, and so are we. The truth won't stay buried for long."